Broken and Bloody
by phoenixreal
Summary: A broken Ichigo returns from a violent and soul crushing assault in Heuco Mundo. Will his life unravel or will a certain shinigami who wants to help him find his lost soul? ShuuXIchi. Rated M: Language, Yaoi, Violence, Noncon. Don't like these, please don't read. MATURE READERS ONLY.
1. Chapter 1: A Losing Battle

** Chapter One: A Losing Battle**

"Damn, where are they all coming from?" Ichigo exclaimed, slicing through another attacking hollow.

Rukia snorted, swirling her snow white sword and sending ice after a bunch of them that were coming in from her side. Around them, they heard the pitched battles. A rain of Quincy arrows here, the roar of Zabimaru in the distance. Chad's crashing hits.

Ichigo looked up, slicing through a nasty snake-like hollow and glanced at Rukia. "They're getting farther away from us," he said, trying to flash the direction the sounds of battle were coming from only to be stopped by a huge lumbering hulk of a hollow and a deer like creature.

Rukia was panting now. "Are they drawing them away for some reason? Into a trap?"

"Getsuga Tenshou!" Ichiogo proclaimed, slicing a swath through the seemingly endless hollows. Well, it wasn't really a surprise; it was Heuco Mundo after all.

"Bastards," Ichigo muttered. "Who is being drawn into a trap, though?" he said looking at Rukia.

She shook he head. "I don't know, but we better head to them if we can, either way!"

They continued, but the sounds of their friends' battling became more distance, and they were even harder pressed. Finally it seemed that there was no end when a burst of sonido put two arrancar's familiar to Ichigo in front of them. Ichigo stepped back, eyeing the pale, short arrancar and the one named Grimmjow that he and Rukia had fought.

"So, we meet again, shinigami?" Grimmjow said, and leaped at the exhausted substitute.

Rukia went to help but found herself restrained against the green eyed one. She looked back at him and struggled as he wrenched her wrist into dropping her snow white sword to the ground. His grip was like iron. She turned back to the fight, and found that Ichigo was pressing him rapidly, until the espada grinned and pulled his sword in front of him. "Grind, Pantera," he said with a smirk and transformed into his resureccion, leaping again, with a grace and speed he hadn't had before. It seemed like forever, but at the speed that Ichigo moved in Bankai and this espada, she knew it was only a few minutes before a sound hit sent Ichigo nearly slamming into her. He tried to stand up, great stripes of claw marks down the front of his shihakuso, and blood dripping from a gash in his head. He struggled to stand and then was knocked flat from behind, Zangetsu flying from his fingers.

"Dammit!" he yelled scrambling to his feet only to have Grimmjow kneel before him, putting Zangetsu to his throat.

"Hrm, what have we here, a helpless shinigami. Aizen seems to think yer gonna be bad for him so I've got my orders. Can't disobey the prick, because last time I lost an arm. So, I guess I'll get this over with, though can't say I won't enjoy it," he said then kicked Ichigo to his back and slammed Zangetsu through his shoulder, pinning him to the ground.

Ichigo yelled as his free hand went to try and drag his sword out, but he'd buried it to the hilt, making removing it a challenge pinned to the ground. Rukia struggled against the one that held her.

"Ichigo!" she called as Grimmjow sauntered up.

He smiled and picked up her white zanpakuto, and looked at the green eyed espada. "Ulquiorra, bring her over here, she gets to watch."

"Watch what, as you kill him with my sword?" she cried out frantically being pushed along until she was standing over Ichigo who lay panting in a growing pool of blood. He looked up, opening one brown eye and smiled.

"I'm okay, I'll be fine…" he said locking eyes with her.

Grimmjow growled and slammed Rukia's sword through his other shoulder down to the cross guard. He jerked and let out a strangled sound, blinking away the water in his eyes at the pain. He kneeled over him, still in resureccion, putting a knee in his stomach and leaning into him.

"Ain't ya pretty, all pinned out just like one a'Szayel's bugs. Be a shame if someone took advantage of the situation, wouldn't it?" he practically purred and sliced claws down his front, shredding what remained of his kusodo and causing a trail of blood to blossom.

Ichigo tilted his head down and yelled, "The hell are you doing Grimmjow, kill me already and get it over with!"

Grimmjow straddled Ichigo's hips, and grinned. "Yer not supposed to die, yer supposed to break. And Aizen said I could break you."

Ichigo's eyes widened as it suddenly dawned on him what Grimmjow was talking about. "What the hell, you sick fuck!" he screamed kicking wildly to get the heavy beast off him.

Grimmjow laughed and ignored the kicks, which were significantly weakened from blood loss. He hooked a claw around his obi and sliced through it, ignoring the screaming female behind him as well. He was intent on his own pleasure. He'd dominate this shinigami in every way and leave him broken and bloody on soul society's doorstep. For once he agreed with something Aizen wanted done. And to have the good fortune for the short bitch to be here…well so much the better.

He grinned as he inched his hakama down revealing the pale skin underneath, fresh, and unmarred. He left them there, just below the line of orange curls there and dug one claw into the flesh above the hip. He hissed and tried to squirm away, but Grimmjow was now sitting on his thighs, and his weak struggles were nothing.

"Well, ya don't dye yer hair that obnoxious color, do ya?" he muttered, yanking at his pubic hair harshly, getting a yelp for his efforts. He glanced behind him to see the female shinigami turning her face away and closing her eyes.

He leaped off Ichigo and pulled her chin around to look at her. Her breath hitched to be so close to the beastly man. "You watch, if you don't, I'm going to take his sword and drive it through his heart so you can hear him die."

Rukia gasped and swallowed, feeling the one holding her position her looking forward at her friend, the blood coloring the sand growing larger. "Please, he's going to bleed to death like that," she said.

"Tch, tch, not yet, I'm not done," Grimmjow said with a wicked grin.

He went back to his victim, his eyes had started to flutter so he slapped him soundly. "Don't pass out or I can't guarantee what will happen to shorty over there."

Ichigo forced his eyes opened and looked at Rukia who was shaking in Ulquiorra's grasp, tears collecting at her eyes. Maybe if he stared at her, just tried not to think about what was happening, maybe then it would be okay. Just pretend it wasn't happening. That had to work.

Grimmjow dug his claws around his hakama and slashed through the fabric shedding it off his body in a couple quick swipes, leaving him exposed. He pulled his legs up but Grimmjow grabbed his thighs and clamped down with both sets of claws, bringing out a shaky scream from the pain. He swore the claws scraped bone. He then forced his legs down and apart, though he fought it as much as he could.

"I'm going to kill you for this, bastard!" he said weakly, but there was no venom in his tone. His vision was fading in and out and his head felt light and dizzy.

Grimmjow grinned, pulling his claws out of his legs, a couple gouts of blood spurting out from them as Ichigo's legs fell limply where Grimmjow had forced them. He didn't think he could even think about moving them now. His breath came harsh and thread.

"Please Grimmjow, don't do this, you don't want to do this to him!" Rukia pleaded.

Grimmjow grinned at her. "Like hell, ever since I fought him the first time I've wanted to pin him to the ground and fuck him bloody."

He didn't take time to gauge her reaction; he was tired of waiting, his throbbing erection pressing against the inside of his release armor. He forced the bone enclose open, letting it free, and took a moment to stroke himself, spreading the blood on his hands on himself. Rukia tried to close her eyes only to have a hand tighten on her neck when she did. She let out a strangled whimper. He leaned over the shinigami brat, kneeling between his legs. He looked up with furious brown eyes as he leaned over and clamped his jaws on his neck beside the sword he'd driven in. He arched, a strange gurgling cry escaping his lips. He sat back up on his knees and looked at his work. Blood still gushed around the sword wounds, and now trickled sluggishly from the bite wound. Ichigo was panting heavily now, almost losing his consciousness when he was slapped again.

"I want you screaming," he said grabbing his ankles and pulling his legs around his waist.

Ichigo finally had it sunk in that this was really happening and he wasn't going to pass out first, so he started struggling again only to stop with wide eyes when Grimmjow's clawed hand grasped his testicles and squeezed. "I can take these and then you'll definitely bleed to death here."

"Please, Grimmjow, no, don't do this…anything but this…" he muttered, turning his head to the side, not seeing the grin that had spread over the espada's face.

He couldn't imagine pain from something like this to be worse than what he'd felt before. But when Grimmjow lined himself against him and with one thrust buried himself inside, Ichigo screamed, his back arching off the ground, thrashing against the blades that had him pinned, fresh blood running as he struggled. And Grimmjow didn't give him any time or pleasure, just focused on his own release, his clawed nails digging deep into Ichigo's hips, drawing blood there to drip to the sand joining the blood that was flowing from elsewhere.

Grimmjow let go and yanked the white sword, now stained red, out of his shoulder, getting another shudder and cry out of him. His ruthless rhythm never stopped, reaching over and yanking the black bankai sword out in the next moment. He leaned over and lapped at the blood with his tongue and then forced one of his thumbs down into each wound, while forced himself on him. Then he pulled out of him, and flipped him face down, once again resuming the hard, fast pace into him, this time getting renewed screaming as he yanked his hips up to meet him, then leaned over to force thumbs into the backside of the sword wounds.

Ichigo couldn't hold himself up, both his arms completely useless, and his legs felt like led. The searing pain running through his back and legs left him sobbing into the sand which was filling his mouth and nose as he was ruthlessly rammed into it. Finally, Grimmjow's pace became frantic and even more painful and then he felt the flush of liquid into him and that was when he started to try to vomit though his stomach was empty. Grimmjow stayed there, then leaned over and snarled in his ear.

"Nothin' against ya, shinigami, but I love ta fight and ta fuck, so now I'll send yer broken ass home," he said grinning. He moved back, pulling out, and Ichigo sobbed as something very warm and wet flowed down his legs. He fell over into the sand, unable to move much as Rukia was let go and came to pull his head into her lap.

Grimmjow picked up both swords and dropped them at her feet, then reached up and flicked his hand to open the garganta. He gestured to Rukia who pulled Ichigo to his feet and dragged him through the garganta, her sword sheathed and his through the belt at her waist. He was nearly unconscious, stumbling and falling as she tried to make the path solid enough for both of them. At last the other side appeared and she stumbled out, finding her last strength to flash step to the ground, Ichigo's consciousness finally slipping as she stumbled and fell over him. She was in soul society, but where. Just then a couple flash steps could be heard and she looked up to Kira and Shuuhei staring at her, open mouthed.

"What the hell happened to you two?" Hisagi breathed, kneeling down.

"Shuuhei, I'm fine, get him to fourth, quickly, he's lost a lot of blood, I don't even know if he can survive it," she said panting, falling to her own knees.

A second later there was another flash and Byukuya appeared beside his sister and frowned at her disheveled state, then his eyes fell on the crumpled shinigami substitute.

"Nii-sama…get him to Unohana-taichou, he's dying…" she gasped.

Byukuya frowned and gathered his sister and looked at Hisagi and Kira. "Kira can you stabilize him before you move him?"

Kira nodded and kneeled down beside him. "I'll stabilize him then take him to Unohana-taichou, Kuchiki-taichou."

Byukuya was gone in an instant and Kira leaned over the orange headed shinigami. Hisagi kneeled beside him and looked over the injuries.

"Kira…" he said softly.

Kira nodded. "I know, I know," he said softly. "Got to stop this bleeding here before I can worry about that bleeding," he said, pressing hands to the still weeping sword wounds in his shoulders. Once they were staunched, he moved to his pelvis where there were some superficial cuts, but he was still losing blood from something internal. He quickly staunched it, then moved to the deep gashes in his legs, a couple he noticed were dangerously close to the main artery. Whoever had done this knew how to avoid it.

He looked at Shuuhei and nodded. "Can you take him, I've exhausted much of my power on it…"

Shuuhei nodded and gathered up the shinigami as carefully as he could and wished he had a thicker shihakuso, but he didn't. He would be flashing through the area, so he shouldn't be seen by anyone. Of course, when you flash past captains, it is hard to go unnoticed, especially ones like Kenpachi who were always on alert for his favorite fighting partners, or those like Toshiro who happened to be in the right place as Hisagi touched the ground briefly.

"Was that Kurosaki?" Matsumoto said from beside him. Toshiro nodded, and both took off to the fourth division to find out what was happening.

Toshiro and Matsumoto walked into the area to see Hisagi, standing there, blood covering his arms and chest. He looked ghostly pale. Beside him, Kira stood his hands bloody as well, and it seemed that both were oblivious to the fact. A second later, Kenpachi and Yachiru came in, a frown creasing Kenpachi's brow. No one said anything for a long moment until Ukitake came out leading an obviously distraught Rukia, also dripping blood and Ichigo's bankai sword in her belt.

The others quickly crowded into the room, patiently awaiting what Rukia had to tell them. She pulled out his Zangetsu and sat it on the table, and they realized it was still dripping blood. Kia pulled a cloth from his pocket and wiped the sword down quickly, and was a little surprised to find the blood went up to the cross guard.

"Oh, he's never going to be the same, Ukitake-taichou!" she said, gasping for breath. "Not after…after…" She swallowed, looking a bit sick.

Hisagi and Kira exchanged glances, knowing what they'd seen. But Rukia couldn't talk, she was still rocking and shaking he heard. Ukitake turned to Shuuhei and Kira with a questioning look.

"We were at some shops in Rukon when we felt a garganta, so we headed to it with haste and saw Rukia and Ichigo dropping to the ground. Both were covered in blood but Rukia said none of it was her's. Kuchiki-taichou came and took away Rukia while I tried to stabilize Kurosaki-san," Kira said, wiping blood onto his black hakama.

"What kind of injuries had he sustained?" the soft spoken silver haired captain said softly.

Kira and Hisagi exchanged looks. "Lots of battle wounds, it looked like, but nothing out of the normal for someone fighting in Hueco Mundo, but there were two wounds, one all the way through each shoulder, that were bleeding profusely, and some kind of internal injury, and what appeared to be claw marks on his thighs that barely missed the artery there," he said, rushing the explanation.

Rukia cleared her throat. "There were a lot of hollows, no idea how many, and somehow it was like they were separating us, I stayed with Ichigo, and Chad, Uryu and Renji were pulled away further and further. We were worried it was a trap, but we didn't know for whom, us or them. We were both exhausted and Ichigo had been in bankai for a while just trying to get through the massive number of hollows and to the others when two espada appeared, one with green eyes, and that bastard Grimmjow. The green eyed one grabbed me, and held me while they fought."

Her brother came in, and offered her a cup of water that she drunk hurriedly. She had to tell it before she couldn't. She gulped. "And Ichigo was doing fine, really, until he entered resureccion form. Some kind of cat creature, but Ichigo was losing to him. He ripped Zangetsu away and kicked him to the ground, then he just impaled him through the shoulder, all the way to the guard. I've never seen anyone do something like that. Then he came over to where I was and told me…told me I had to watch him break him. He picked up my zanpakuto and ran through his other shoulder with it. He…he told him he looked like a pinned bug like that."

She gulped. "I tried to look away, Taichou, I tried, but he told me if I did he was going to take Zangetsu and run it through his heart so I could watch him die instead! I think I would have rather watched him die, does that make me horrible, Taichou?" she asked, pleading with her captain. Ukitake shook his head. "No, Rukia, what happened, we need to know so Unohana-taichou can treat him properly."

She swallowed, her hands shaking now. "The he ripped off the front of his kusodo and told him that he was going to break him and send him back to soul society as a message from Aizen, and he said he didn't mind because he had wanted to do this since they fought the first time. He tried to kick him off, but instead he latched onto his legs like that and he couldn't even fight then, and he tried to pass out, but every time, he'd slap him and say if he didn't stay awake he was going to do something to me, and Ichigo would try to stay awake, but…but.."

She was silent, feeling her captain's arm around her back. "I don't think I've heard someone scream like that before. It was like something inside him broke, shattered and Grimmjow didn't make it easy, midway, yanking both swords out and forcing his fingers into the wounds to keep him awake. He flipped him, and then he was nearly suffocating in the sand because he couldn't use his arms at all. He was sobbing into the sand by then and I've never heard him cry, never once, and he looked at me then. His eyes, I'm not going to forget that ever…"

She was panting now from the exertion. "When he was done, he tossed him aside and opened the garganta and dropping our swords, telling me to take him back. He was so weak and bleeding so much, but I managed to get through and then we fell and Kira and Shuuhei found us."

She finished with a broken sob as she started crying. "Why would he do something like this? Why would he want to do something so sick to another person? Why would anyone do something like that to someone like Ichigo?"

Ukitake squeezed her and turned to leave and talk to Unohana about what Rukia had said. He made his way into the room where Ichigo had been laid out, bandages criss crossing his body, his eyes closed but still in obvious pain. Unohana looked at him with tired eyes.

"He's going to live, Jushiro. But the damage we can't see…" she said wondering what to say.

"Rukia was forced to watch," he said softly, gaining a surprised glanced. "He's not he only one with unseen wounds today."

Unohana nodded. "The brutality of it, I've never seen anything like it. And those wounds in his shoulders…."

"Kurosaki-san would not give in easily, and the espada used his own sword and Rukia's sword to pin him to the ground. She said that he ran both swords through him to the hilt to keep him still. And then the wounds on his legs came from when he still resisted him," he said, sighing a bit.

She sighed. "I'm not sure he would have made it if Kira-fukutaichou hadn't been close by. The blood loss was massive. I'm amazed he managed to stay conscious through the…ordeal."

Ukitake nodded. "Rukia said he kept slapping him and using his wounds to keep him awake."

Unohana's kind yes watched her sleeping patient. "He may never really recover from this, Jushiro. This kind of violation is so hard to deal with, but as a man and a protector like he is…"

"Aizen wanted to break him," Ukitake said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "And I think from what Rukia said, he may have accomplished it."


	2. Chapter 2: Empty

**Chapter Two-Silence**

* * *

Rukia sat beside the bed where Ichigo still lay unconscious. Without Inoue, there was no way to accelerate the healing beside what the kido could do. But what the kido could not heal was what she was afraid of. His breathing was steady, and the wounds had been sealed enough that the danger was mostly passed. But he was still asleep. It had been two days already. And there was no indication that he was going to wake up. She heard a noise and looked up. Renji stood with Uryu and Chad in the doorway.

"You're alive!" she exclaimed, leaping up to hug her friend. She looked at Uryu and Chad, both bandaged here and there. "Orhime?"

Renji nodded. "She's here, Unohana-taichou is looking her over now."

She frowned. "What happened? You didn't defeat them all, did you?"

Renji shook his head. "I don't know what happened. After we were separated from you two, we ended up breaking through the walls of the place. It was a maze and eventually we ended up at a doorway, when we opened it, Orhime was there. We managed to retrace our steps and took off into the sands. This morning a garganta opened and Urahara called us back. He said Ichigo had been injured and was here, but he didn't say how bad."

Rukia glanced over at him and bit her lip. "Bad."

"Can Orhime help him?" Uryu said, stepping up to look him over.

Rukia reached out and brushed a hand through his hair. "I don't think anyone can heal this," she whispered. "I'm not sure I'm going to be okay. His wounds are sealed. I just…I just…oh I don't know what to do."

Renji exchanged looks with the others. "Rukia, what happened?"

Rukia couldn't stop the tears from running down her face. "I couldn't do anything! I couldn't stop it, and even after it all, he wanted to protect me. I couldn't even look away, they…they made me watch…and…" She turned, sobbing into Renji's chest.

"Kuchiki-san," a soft voice whispered and they saw Urahara standing behind them. "Do not blame yourself. This was a tactical effort. Orhime-san was the bait; Kurosaki-san was the intended target."

Inoue had come up behind him as he spoke. "What? Urahara-san, they…they let me go? What happened to Kurosaki-kun?"

She rushed into the room and looked him over, calling out her flowers to check him over. "Why won't he wake up?" she whispered. "He should be awake. His wounds are healed…"

Rukia nodded. "He's been like that since we got back. No matter what we try, he just won't wake up. I don't think he wants to wake up."

Renji snorted. "Well that's ridiculous, Rukia. I'm sure he wants to go beat the shit out of whoever beat him up so bad, he'll wake up."

Rukia stared at him. "I don't think he will, Renji. I don't know, I don't know if he'll ever fight again even if he does wake up."

Urahara put a hand on Renji's shoulder. "Abarai-san, you all come with me, and I'll explain the situation. It is a little more complex, and I think Rukia should stay here. Rukia resumed her silent vigil in the chair beside the bed.

Urahara led them to a private office, sitting down as the others sat around the small, round table. He rubbed the bridge of his nose and sighed, removing his hat, something that none present had ever seen him do.

"Urahara-san, why isn't Kurosaki-kun awake?" Inoue asked softly.

"Trauma does that sometimes. Most likely he can't deal with it yet. We'll just have to wait until he can," the older shinigami said softly.

Renji frowned. "Trauma? He's had it worse when Zaraki-taichou and I fought him. Hell, Zaraki-taichou nearly skewered him. Well he did but somehow he didn't bleed to death."

Urahara leaned back, eyes rolling skyward. "If it were just physical wounds, that would be the case, but after what happened…"

Uryu adjusted his glasses. "I don't understand? What happened?"

Urahara shook his head. "You know it is hard to say what I'm about to say out loud. To even think makes me sick, to be honest. And I hurt so much for Rukia. According to what she said when they returned, they were met by Grimmjow and the pale green eyed one. She was restrained, and Grimmjow drove both Rukia's sword and Ichigo's sword through his shoulders once he overpowered him. She said Grimmjow claimed Aizen told him that he was supposed to break him as a message to soul society. And he did just that."

It took a moment for the implication to sink in to Renji's head. "What, you mean that bastard actually…while he made Rukia watch?"

Urahara nodded. "It was brutal. He was nearly dead when she got here with him, if Kira and Shuuhei hadn't been nearby. He'd lost so much blood, and was so torn up it took Kira to stop the internal bleeding before he could move him. Unohana-taichou said she'd never seen anything like it."

Inoue looked around, seeing the crestfallen expression of all three men. She frowned, not entirely understanding what they were talking about. "I don't understand…" she said softly. "What caused it?"

Uryu put a gentle hand on her shoulder and sighed, closing his eyes to say the words that none of the others could bring themselves to say. "Orhime, Grimmjow didn't just fight him, he brutally raped him."

Inoue blinked and tears suddenly rose to her eyes suddenly. "What? What? How could he do something to him? And he used me to get him there!" she said, her breath hitching, just a fraction away from full hyperventilation. Uryu pulled her into an embrace.

Urahara sighed and nodded. "When he wakes up, he's going to need all of you. But don't expect him to want you near him. I honestly cannot tell how he will deal with this. Ichigo's strong, but I'm not sure anyone is truly strong enough for this."

There was a flutter of activity and one of the newer fourth division members ducked his head into the room. "Kurosaki-san has woken up, but I wouldn't recommend all of you go in at once. He's…a bit…ah…" he paused looking for the right words. "easily overwhelmed," he settled on, walking away.

Urahara nodded. "I'll go in first and see if Rukia will leave his side."

He stepped into the room a second later, finding Rukia sitting still, hands folded in her lap, staring at them. Ichigo had turned his head away and was staring intently at the wall. Rukia stood up, and sighed to Urahara as she left quietly.

"Ichigo?" Urahara said softly.

He turned his head to him and blinked slowly, silent and still. "Hey, Ishida-kun, Sado-kun and Abarai-kun are here too, would you like to see them?"

Ichigo turned back for a second then shifted, turning over to his side with his back to him. Urahara frowned. He reached out and touched his shoulder, only to have him violently flinch away from it. Urahara stepped back and nodded quietly. He left the room with to where the others waited.

"Has he said anything?" he asked Rukia. She shook her head.

He looked at the others. "Maybe one of you will have better luck. You know him better," he said softly. One at a time the others went to see him, and all received the same reaction.

"What are we going to do?" Rukia said softly. "If he won't even talk to us?"

Urahara swallowed. "I don't think going home would be good right now. So we should let him stay here. Do you want to stay for a while before going back home and see if he'll respond to you? I'm afraid he may have chosen to shut down on himself after this. We can't let him."

"Inoue, you should go in and let him know you're safe," Renji said quietly and she nodded, wiping her tears. She'd been given some fresh, non arrancar, style clothes to wear.

She entered, staring at his back. "Kurosaki-kun?" she said softly. He turned to stare at her and sighed softly, nodding before he turned away. "Kurosaki-kun, please can you talk to me?"

He looked back to her and shook his head, turned away again. She swallowed hard and moved toward him, putting her hand onto his shoulder only to have him jerk away from her and scowl. She pulled her hand away and left, waiting until she was outside to let her tears fall.

"He-he looked like he was glad I was here, but he jerked away from me…and wouldn't talk…" she said, gasping through her tears.

Rukia put her arm around her and led her away, consoling her the best she could considering her own mental state. Ishida sighed and shook his head. Maybe something less gentle would help shake him out of his funk. He knew that it was risky, but he was going to give it a shot.

"Kurosaki, move your ass, we got work to do, you know," he said, standing with his hands on his hips in the doorway. He didn't move. "Kurosaki, get up, your wounds are healed, lazy bastard," he said. Again, no response. He stalked over and reached out and yanked him by his shoulder over. He locked eyes with the brown ones for a moment before he was flying backward with a reiatsu laced punch to the face.

Urahara stepped in and pulled him away. "So, tough love is a no go," Ishida muttered, massaging his bleeding nose.

Renji frowned. "Okay, so he is going to be violent if we push him. Considering the power he packs, that probably isn't a good idea. So how are we going to get him to come out of this funk?"

Unohana came out then. "I think we're dealing with a psychological issue. My guess is selective mutism has been triggered by the event."

Renji frowned. "What the hell is selective mutism?"

"It means, Abarai-san, he can talk, he just has chosen to stop," Urahara said softly.

Ishida frowned. "So he could start talking anytime he wants? So what's stopping him?"

Unohana sighed. "It is complex. It is a reaction to the event, part of the brain just decides it isn't going to deal with it, and the best way is to simply lack the ability to speak anymore. Then no one can make him talk about it. Working with victims of this type of…trauma is not my specialty. It isn't exactly common here."

They looked up to see Ichigo was staring at them frowning. He shook his head, and pulled the robe around himself and appeared to be looking for something. Unohana watched him, and he pushed on the door to the bathroom and went in. Of course, many visits to squad four meant he knew where he was going.

"I suppose he wanted to wash up? I bet after sleeping two days he feels grimy," Rukia said softly.

They spoke some more after Unohana left. But as they waited Ichigo wasn't coming out. He'd been in there well over half an hour already. Urahara looked at the boys. "He's been in there an awful long time, Renji, you want to go check on him?"

Renji nodded. First the overwhelming heat surprised him. And then the muttering he could hear from the other side of the screen made his stomach flip.

"Wash it away," the whispered sounds. "Dirty. Must get rid of it all. Burn it."

The smell though, he could smell something familiar on the air. It had a tang of metal…blood? He frowned, hearing the sounds of scrubbing, but hard scrubbing. He pulled the screen aside and yelled.

"Ichigo, stop that!" he grabbed a towel and yanked him up out of the water, his eyes locked on him as he dropped a bloody scrubbing brush.

He didn't resist, having been caught at what he was doing. He steered him from the bathroom, feeling his hands burn from the temperature of the water. He just stared off as he was ushered back into his room. Renji pulled the towel that was stained red off him and stared, looking up as Unohana came into the room followed by Rukia. He looked unbothered by the fact that he had completely scrubbed himself raw and bleeding over half his body, and the rest was nearly scalded from the heat of the water he'd been in.

Unohana waved them out of the room, and pulled the curtain clothes, setting to work bandaging the seeping wounds. He just watched as she dressed them, his eyes hollow and far away. She sighed and looked up at him, locking eyes.

"Ichigo, tell me what I can do?" she said softly.

He shrugged, grabbed his covers and curled up facing the wall again. She exited to see the anxious group waiting for her. "It's common, the washing like this. Feeling dirty, worthless. You'll need to watch him after I release him from here. Any idea where he'll be staying?"

The others shook their head, not really sure. "Well, he's going to need someone with him. I'd like to believe that he won't suffer the more extreme symptoms, but the strength of a person has nothing to do with how hard they are affected, and sometimes I think the stronger people are affected worse."

"What could we be looking at?" Renji asked quietly.

Unohana sighed. "Rape trauma syndrome is what it is called, a collection of possible symptoms. The physical wounds are obvious. The rest… Obsessive washing is one of them, very common one, actually. Feelings of worthlessness, suicidal thoughts and actions, anxiety, jumpiness, there are a host of other things. I'll give you a sheet with the whole list to look out for, and some ideas on how to deal with them. It is a type of post-traumatic stress disorder. And it can be devastating."

Renji and Rukia exchanged glances. "You think Kuchiki-taichou will let him stay with you guys? Or should I try to put him in one of the barracks?" the red head asked softly.

Rukia looked thoughtful. "Not anywhere near squad eleven, he doesn't need Zaraki-taichou spoiling for a fight right now… I'll talk to nii-sama and see what he thinks, but I can't imagine him denying it."

Renji stood at the front and waited for her to return and looked up to see Shuuhei and Kira walking toward him. He waved at the pair as they got closer. "Hey guys, how are you two doing?"

"Busy, but we came by to see how Kurosaki was doing?" Shuuhei said, and Kira nodded beside him.

Renji shook his head. "I wish I could say he was doing great. But that's not the case. He's been healed up, of course, but now he won't talk. Unohana-taichou said it was selective mutism or something. He can talk he just won't."

Shuuhei frowned. "Wow, that doesn't sound like him at all…"

"Nah, I know you two haven't been around him much, but he's one cocky, determined bastard. And now…ugh. We're not supposed to leave him alone, and at first I thought it was rather stupid, that he'd bounce back, but man…" He ran a hand over his forehead. "He was in the bath for a long time and I went to figure out what was up, and I swear, he scrubbed half his skin off while he was in there. And he'd even had the water so hot he had a few places he scalded himself. Muttering to himself, first I'd heard him talk, about cleaning himself."

"That's messed up," Shuuhei said.

Kira nodded. "So that is what happened, huh?"

Renji let out a long slow sigh. "Yeah. And Rukia is just distraught herself. I can't imagine being forced to watch as someone you're friends with gets…ugh, fuckin' Aizen. Cruel bastard."


End file.
